


Last Trade

by Xenamorph



Category: Wizard101 (Video Game)
Genre: Corruption, Evil Plans, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:29:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25779724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xenamorph/pseuds/Xenamorph
Summary: Calamity stops by Guillermel's stand in Mirage for one last trade before her big plan.
Kudos: 1





	Last Trade

Calamity frowned as she paged through the small pockets in her robe. Mirage was beautiful as she expected, completely fulfilling all of her wildest dreams from when she would listen to the merchants chatter with each other. Talks of sandstorms and trengils and other terrors, all of which Calamity had dealt with and more. Small sparkling objects stuffed into the sand dunes just waiting for them to find. And Calamity had found so many, at least fifty at this point. Half of which went to her crafting, melting down all the peculiar little metal items into a proper base for her staff, and the other half went to Guillermel. 

The Dromel merchant was useful, giving helpful hints and selling wonderful items. Most of which he refused to sell, grinning widely in his odd way and said that she (as well as each of her companions, individually of course) would need to complete a few tasks. A house in favor of selling him antiquities, hats and boots in return for Ghulture feathers, a wand for crushing a few of the undead roaming the wastes, and a robe for crushing a few of the trengils clogging up the pathways. As well as a full on magic carpet if they sold him so many _more_ antiquities. A hundred at the very least, each if they wanted to all have a carpet.

Which Calamity found so very ridiculous, but it's not like they had another place to use all of those antiquities. All three of her partners were stubborn about getting their own antiquities for the crafting, so it's not like she could give the items to them. And selling them at the bazaar was just pathetic, she didn't trust anyone there to not be a weird hoarder or to be less than rich (and her original parents as well as Rowan's impressed upon her the important of surrounding herself with other important rich folk in order to succeed). So Guillermel it is.

"I have more for you this time," She announced, sliding off of the back of her krokodile mount and taking it's reins in the left hand, "But this is the last batch if everything goes as planned." Oh, of course there was a plan, Calamity never did anything without one after all. But this one was more secret than any of her others, not even her parents knew, or her parents, or even Annipe. The plan was solely contained within her head.

"Oh?" He tilted his head, eyes just barely narrowed in suspicion as he unfolded the infinite table that he used to store the antiquities, "Please, go ahead and show me what you've brought for me." He pulled out the small coin purse he always had, never really trading much money in return for the items, but that was fine. Just another money sink until Calamity could store up more in her troves. She had finessed a good few of the piles of gold and gems away from him, just to show off her ridiculous wealth. 

"Of course, I have so many plans at any given time, you'd be a fool to expect otherwise. If all goes well I won't need your small little apartment or a crappy carpet. I will have everything I need delivered to me." There was a deal of fanaticism in her eyes, but that had been more and more common the further she went down this path. She slammed the bag full of sparkling items (she refused to call them sparklies, no matter how many times Cal used the name) down on the table and undid the drawstring holding it closed.

The weight of the antiquities forced it open, spilling out statues and boxes and eggs all gilded and gleaming in the midday sun. Guillermel let out a soft gasp at the sight of all of them, and as he slid each individual one over to his side and push forward two gold coins each. Enough to get her up to fifty sold in total, not that she cared or needed to keep count, but she was rather proud of the number. Seventy five items dredged up out of the sands, fifty sold for two coins apiece when before there was nothing. Any money was money gained and she let a smile crawl across her face as she slipped the paltry sum into her bag.

"Pleasure doing business with you, good sir, and while this will hopefully be the last we trade, this will not be the last you see of me." The money gained, while little and pathetic to her troves, was just enough to send her over the edge to afford the next piece in her plan. She hopped astride her krokodile and flicked her wrist, a portal to her shiny new Arcanum apartment swirling up the stands. Calamity gave a last wink and grin towards the Dromel Merchant before flicking the reins and crying out to urge the krokodile foreward.

Once they were through, Calamity closed the portal and locked the only other entrance. This plan needed no interruptions, and she couldn't risk anyone ruining it. The jewel allowing people to translocate her would also have to go, and she dug her claws in underneath it and popped it out of it's socket. Luckily, the jewel survived for later use, after all what is a Queen without her consorts? But she would have to prove herself worthy of that title first and anyone else would come second.

That's the royal way after all, yourself first no matter what. Rowan would be the easiest to draw over to the correct side, after all she could thank Rowan's parents for allowing her to get this far on their good teachings. Her mother could only do so much with the little time they had together, and now that her mummy (figuratively and literally) had been torched to smolders, all Calamity had was memories. But memories were enough, now that she had found her mother's crown. 

It was a glorious thing, the crown of Krokotopia's Palace of Fire, all gilded with rubies and gold and a few jades in there for luck. Krokotopia didn't have many life manders, but they did have theurgist Krokotillians, and that is who Calamity molded herself after. But it wasn't enough. Calamity found theurgy so very soft and delicate, too much water and it wilts, too little water and it wilts. It was good for keeping others alive and little else, suitable for a vizier but not for a queen. And that is her goal, to become a proper Queen that her mother would be proud of.

Sure she could've gone after pyromancy, chased after what gave Jasmine her spark and what allowed her to be such a powerful nemesis. But Calamity knew that would be too suspicious, Jasmine would see the tell tale signs of ash and smoke and her plan would be dead in the water. So she chose storm, divining magic was strong and swift and powerful. Her mother always respected the storm magic users on Krok, though she did detest how divided they allowed themselves to be between families, and so Calamity didn't feel like it was that large of a betrayal to go after storm. It was all elemental after all, and her mother always praised ingenuity.

What was more ingenious than combining electricity and life? A little bit of conjuring all captured within a vial that her adoptive (second adoptive) parents had sent her (all with well wishes and half-joking requests for a palace of their own, that of course Calamity will grant) to create the vessels that will harness the storm magic and she will have her army. In the past year of working on this, Calamity always made sure that no one else accessed her Arcanum Apartment, no matter how much she would love to pick Ione's brain about the best way to animate things. But Ione could never keep secrets well, and would tell the other scholars everything and her plan would fail.

But she had convinced a rather handsome Diviner to help her acquire some coils that would work well enough, and Calamity didn't see it as a bad thing if she had to press a few kisses to a soft pair of lips then she was sure that her partners would understand. They would all understand soon, and Calamity would make everything alright again. 

A little laugh (some would call it a cackle but Calamity would never) left her lips as she spun around the small space left in the middle of her apartment. Myrella Windspear would be here any moment with the housing deed to her future palace. Well, not entirely the palace would come later when she established her court and made sure each of her darlings had their pick of the place. She figured that Jasmine would want a palace based in Avalon, for ease of visiting her mothers, but all the large castles there were all taken up by brutes! Calamity would need to take them out first and gift Jasmine with the cleaned and perfected castle, and she would have to perfect her Divining first. But her other two partners would be a little harder to place. Cal might like a Dragonspyrian home, or the reminder of their lost world could anger or sadden them, and she knew that Rowan would prefer to get away from her parents, so Marleybone housing was out for her. 

"Uh, Miss Legendwhisper, is this the right room?" A soft feminine voice came from the door, and Calamity twirled around to face her. Myrella was a beautiful woman, for a cat, with a pair of glasses settled on the bridge of her nose and a clipboard ever present by her side. She seemed a little disturbed by something, but Calamity figured that it was merely due to the sheer size and expanse of the Arcanum (Calamity herself had had the same reaction the first time she came here after all!)

"Yes, that is me!" She laughed, straightening the crown on her head as she caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection in the window. "You're Myrella Windspear with the housing agency correct? I assume you have my housing deed!" There was a little bit of a trill at the end of her words as Calamity slipped to land herself in front of her, eyes bright and glowing.

Myrella paused, staring down at the woman who was at least a head shorter than her. "Oh uh, yes Miss, I have it right here." Keeping one eye on the wizard, she paged through her clipboard before letting out a relieved sigh and drawing out a crackling piece of paper. The edges were burned from the lightning sparking off of it as Calamity took it, "Your very own Storm House. I'm sure you've been well aware of the warranty and the chances for storm related damage, right?"

"Oh don't you worry your gorgeous little head over it, I know full well the risks and rewards of what I'm doing!" Calamity voice was as bright and as sparking as the housing deed she clutched in her hand. She moved over to her desk, cluttered and messy with failed projects and smashed machinery, and signed her name on the deed. The lightening crawled over her arms until it hit her crown and curled around the snake there, "Thank you, you are dismissed!" With a flick of her hand, she turned her back on Myrella in order to open the portal to her new home.

Myrella's hand was still slightly outstretched for her payment (though Calamity had paid for her house, it was customary to tip the seller), and she blinked. Frowning at the rather rude dismissal, she let out a slight huff before disappearing. Only a small pile of sand stood where she used to, though that was due to her affinity for balance magic.

Calamity scowled at the sight of sand in her otherwise spotless room, and she flicked her hand. A bolt of lightning left her fingertips, turning the sand to shards of glass and fulgurite that swept their way easily into her reagent pouch. Not that useful unless she wanted a one way trip to the forge (may be useful depending on how much Cal enjoys crafting), but enough to warrant collection. She scoffed slightly and moved through the portal. 

Immediately she was greeted with the spray of salt water and the scent of a storm brewing. A storm is exactly what she needs, her hand flicked in a practiced manner, a card tucked into her sleeve burned against her skin as it turned to ash. A wooden construct arose, clumsy and imperfect but good enough for Calamity's first mission. "Construct your order is to move the spires and desks into the lower sanctum of this house in my absence!"

Another thing lacking about the use of conjured minions, there was no reply. There was just immediate obedience and while that was _gratifying_ , she certainly wished that there was at least a response. A little 'yes my queen' or 'right away my queen' or anything that acknowledged just how powerful she was. Oh well, it was something she could put Rowan up to. Funding her darling's little adventures into conjuring and allowing her to focus those efforts into making something so much more useful for the good of the most important person: Calamity!

A little laugh left her lips again as she made her way through the spiral door to another realm that reminded her so heavily of her lovers. Dragonspyre, Cal's original home that could soon be conquered by the necromancer if they just put their mind to it! Cal was rather ingenious after all, and the idea of all of that talent going to waste in the servitude of anyone else made Calamity's blood boil! That was _her_ ingenious necromantic automaton after all! Merle did nothing to encourage their endeavors, Calamity did! But Dragonspyre held more than just a future realm to conquer, it held a rather powerful sorcerer with so many things to give up.

"Oohh Miss Loremaster!" Calamity cooed out as she danced her way into the locked vault. Sure it had taken a little sneaking of a key from a desk, but she was inside with just the Loremaster standing between her and her goal. "You have something I want!" Her voice retained the little sing-song quality as she ran her finger down the spine of the book, hopping up onto the desk as she waited for the specter to appear.

"Who are you and how dare you break into my vault!" The ghostly blue specter yelled, halfway to summoning up a combat circle before Calamity ripped out a page. The specter flickered and Calamity let out a little laugh as she started tearing out more and more pages. With each page discarded, the Loremaster got less and less distinct as they hit the ground. Soon enough the book was empty, the specter was gone, and Calamity was holding the spell that she needed.

"Hammer of Thor, oh Miss Master you really have some fancy spells." Calamity chuckled to herself as she opened the portal to her Storm home. The wind was instant and refreshing after the dry heat of Dragonspyre, and Calamity was thankful for how wonderful it felt. The sea grass growing by the beaches tugged at her senses, and she pulled it up _up up_ until it was winding it's way across the bridge. It covered the metal of the bridge, making it look almost completely natural. Calamity knew that within the month, the metal and wiring would break down to scraps for her to scavenge and the bridge really would be all natural. What a wonderful thing, the fall of mechanics to nature just to be wonderfully replaced by something better. 

"Wooden Construct, report!" She called out, having to almost yell (not scream, a Queen never screams, it is those who don't listen who's fault it is) to be heard over the sound of the storm. There was the clanking of metal and wooden feet as the wooden construct came from within the house. 

There was no verbal response, not that Calamity truly expected one. Instead it's opened it's roughly humanoidly shaped mouth and spat out a scrap of paper. Right, she would have to keep a hoard of parchment in order to really make these things useful, but that was no matter. Parchment was cheap and easy to find, especially since a good deal of it could be found in Krokotopia. She would have to visit there anyway in order to recover a few artifacts that were hers rightfully. Rowan would be lenient on her for working to recover her family's treasure, though the others wouldn't be at first. None of them understood why she was doing it, none of them understood why she was doing any of this. But they would, soon enough they would all understand and accept her whims as their own. And soon she'll be properly happy.

The list written on the parchment was simple, just a tally of everything that the minion had moved from the apartment into the home. But it was satisfactory, and she graced the thing with a smile before destroying it. Instead of a minion, there now stood a small sapling, out of the way enough and just to the side of the lighthouse. Perfect, it would need a second one to join it for absolute symmetry, but beggars cannot be choosers. Soon enough she'd come up with the resources needed to make another minion, but for now she would have to check over the house to make sure it was what she wanted.

As she stepped out of the elevator, it was clear that the minion was a little too simplistic. Everything had been moved in, of course it had been the minion wasn't that stupid. But it was cluttered and unorganized and left completely in the first room. But that was fine. The planters that the construct had brought in would be enough, the latent seeds within just waiting for her to control them. The seeds split open and vines crawled out, each of them picking up a piece of furniture as Calamity focused on the layout of the house. She knew it well, having taken a good few tours of the house to make sure it was all memorized. Her eyes slipped shut as she focused on the vines and their place in the house. 

Soon enough (not soon enough, it took the rest of the day to set up her laboratory and make sure that all of her treasures were locked away in their proper rooms), her task was done. Calamity collapsed onto her bed, taking out the small communicator that Cal had made for the four of them after they had gotten Jasmine back from the brink. Such a wonderful, kind, thoughtful partner, and now Calamity was doing one better. She was making sure that none of them would ever be faced with that brink again.

After all who would ever force a Queen's consorts to fight battles? That's what the army was for, that was what everyone else was for. Calamity was just making sure that no one would ever take advantage of her darling's kind nature again. They should thank her, everyone should thank her. And she knows just how they can do that.


End file.
